Using Blockchain to Secure the Internet of Medical Things

The Internet of Medical Things are the medical devices and applications that are connected through a network to collect and share data with the healthcare systems.

A report presented by Allied Market Research states that the Internet of Medical Things global market is projected to touch $136.8 billion by the end of 2021. Today, around 3.7 million medical devices have already marked their presence over a network. They are very precisely used to monitor sensitive areas of medical science to participate in healthcare decisions.

The Internet of Medical Things are the medical devices and applications that are connected through a network to collect and share data with the healthcare systems. As the IoMT adds more and more medical devices every day, organisations are now able to identify its potential to enhance work quality and empower the growth of the medical sector. IoMT has already expanded this culture by introducing health apps, wearables, peripherals, home medical devices, mhealth solution, handheld medical tech, connected equipment etc. In between thus exponential growth, it has also created some challenges. The main among all- security to IoMT models. Let's discuss the threats and effective solution which can reduce this obstacle.

Threats to Medical Devices:

Too much medical data- the value of medical data is getting declined. Very soon it will become easier to buy medical data than hacking them. Then hackers will find it more profitable to exploit. They would try to hack medical devices in order to control them.

In the medical industry, few devices used today were created decades ago like X-ray machines, C. T. Scan devices, pacemakers etc. But the best part is- they still work fine. The only drawback is that these devices can be easily compromised- because few of them are outdated, their used applications don't get an update. These devices can be compromised easily by hackers making patient’s life vulnerable.

With the advancement of technology, as the mobile medical devices are introduced to the healthcare industry, there is always cyber threats are associated with it. Hackers always look for new ways to crack the back door of a hospital’s IT network.

Generally, doctors prioritize their patient care over the cyber safety. Apart from it, regular update and the safety of their medical infrastructure is also necessary for protection. Otherwise, they will get unprofessional and continue using old versions of the medical software to keep up their workflow.

Medical sectors hesitate to follow FDA-issued guidelines for security. They didn't find its mandate. These security recommendations are designed to eliminate the security risks in healthcare organisations, manufacturers. Ponemon Institute conducted research in 2017 says- only 51 percent of medical apparatus manufacturers and 44 percent of organisations follow the FDA guidelines.

How Can Blockchain prove to be the best solution for IoMT?

The data generated by the patient and other IoMT devices are very massive in amount. All these data stored in the database. The threat to this stored information isn’t a big thing as hackers already know thousands of ways to break such centralised storage.

With blockchain, the data flowing across a network node can be monitored and processed easily without any intervention. The decentralised storage capacity keeps data safe and secure over the network for the final words.

In blockchain technology, the collected data automatically gets stored at various locations. Thus, users can always access it from anywhere. To maintain the accountability and auditability, private blockchain is used which authorize users to make access to the network. The data stored on the blockchain is signed, so anyone accessing the data through their device is responsible for the actions.

Blockchain also provides integrity solutions at its core. It maintains the chain of events (you can say log to each transaction), even if anyone deletes or update the data over the network.

By adopting a highly secure IoT platform, researchers can attest the quality level of medicines to fulfil the supply chain demand improving its efficiency.

Thus, anyone can say blockchain- which is currently driving the soul of cryptocurrencies, finance, banking, supply chain etc.- has now expanded its leg to the medical sector. With an active support of AI technologies like deep learning, IoT, ML, analytics- it has created a successful path of the joy and prosperity for medical research and organisations. If you are unaware of the deep technologies, you can go through the Artificial Intelligence Course to boost your analytical capability. Understanding these technologies opens the path of success with a clear understanding of Tensor flow and other inherited resources.

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